Maya's Divided World from Chapter 13 back I think a lot about what Ms. Martinez said to me. One evening, I decide to take her advice. My mom and I are in the family room watching "Jeopardy" when I blurt out the question that has been bothering me. "Mom, why did you tell Dad to leave?" A surprise look appears on Mom's face, and in a slow quivering voice, she answers, "I know it will be hard for you to understand, Maya, but the love your dad and I once felt for each other disappeared a long time ago. For quite some time now, your dad and I had been living separate lives. Your dad was unhappy ad so was I, but we both kept avoiding the problem and, well it got to the point where I just couldn't let it go on like this anymore. One of us had to make the decision, so I asked him to leave. He always hated Laguna from the first day we moved here, and so he decided to move back to the Bay Area." Mom puts her head down, but not before I notice the tears in her eyes. Even then I can't seem to feel sorry for her: "So you kicked him out, just like that?" I say defensively, wiping away the tears that are trickling down my cheeks. When Mom finally looks up at me, I know that my words have hurt her. Why is it that I want to hurt her? "No, m'ija," she insists, wiping a tear from her eyes. "It wasn't like that. We both agreed it would be better for your dad to live somewhere else. I'm happy here at the university, you seemed happy at Roosevelt, so we both thought it would be better this way." "But why didn't you tell me he was leaving? Why didn't you both talk to me about it?" I ask accusingly. "I'm sorry, Maya. We screwed up. I guess we didn't want to hurt you. We thought the less we told you the better." "You should have told me!" I shout back, getting up from the couch. This time I don't give Mom a chance to responds. I race back to my room slamming the door behind me. Later that night I can hear Mom's muffled sobs coming from the bathroom. I start to feel guilty. I don't know why I have to be so mean to her. At least she told me the truth about Dad. At least now I know.